Brace Yourself

My husband and I are at that point in life where we get to start panicking about tween/teen expenses and how in the world we are ever going to afford all that our kiddos are going to need (demand) from here on out. 
Zak will be completing his Drivers Ed this week and will eventually deem it necessary to drive.  In order for that to happen, we need to have a car (that we aren't especially fond of~if you catch my drift) and he will need to be covered on our insurance.  The discussion with State Farm is a phone call I have procrastinated as I've heard from far to many people that covering a teenager is beyond expensive and I just don't think I can face that number at this moment.

Meanwhile, Ryson had the fine opportunity of getting braces last week.

Bella decided to go with us to see what was involved because her dentist recently told her that she has an overbite and will also require braces. 

Hopefully she can hold off for 12-18 months so that we don't have the expense of two metal mouths in the family.

 


Ryson did pretty well during the whole procedure considering how long he had to have his mouth stretched to capacity and dry as a bone. 

They kept telling him what a model patient he was.  It took just over an hour to get everything where it needed to be.





Dr. Roloff ~the Orthodontist that will be vacationing on our hard earned money for the next year.

These puppies aren't cheap.  He will need them for 12-18 months and they told him if he takes care of them, he may get them off sooner.  This was probably the worst thing they could have told him.  The kid wants them off so bad, he hardly eats and is constantly worried about how much food he has in his brackets so he brushes, flosses, brushes some more.  We have to keep telling him to RELAX and just do what is normal and he'll be fine.

He didn't have the wires and bands on in this picture but I never did get a picture of the end result.  He opted for alternating hot pink and purple bands to finish off the look.  I failed to mention that he had to have a tooth pulled the day before so that his other tooth would have a spot to fit.  Wasn't the best weekend for a 12 year old kid.
I don't think Bella is as excited about the idea of getting braces after watching Rys go through the process but she has such a bad overbite that I'm pretty sure braces are inevitable.

So as we brace ourselves for the future with our 5, ever evolving kids, we have our fingers crossed that we will be able to provide for them all that they need and want in order to have the best future possible.